I remember inverted controls often being the standard when 3D games first started, throughout the 90s. Not just for the camera, but up and down movement too. Always hated it, and hated it when there wasn't an option to change it. Maybe it makes sense in a few situations, like flight sim games, but otherwise I can't see the point. Fortunately it seems like developers finally realized that gamers preferred regular controls. Games like Halo, which helped popularize the 2-stick control scheme, probably helped a lot with that shift to regular controls too.

Is there a particular game or games that you played recently that prompted this thought?

I'd be curious to hear from someone here if they do prefer the inverted controls though. Many games still put it as an option, so there must be someone...

Like I said, I bought a PS2 recently, and I decided to replay the first game I ever played on my first PS2, Tak and the Power of Juju. And the camera controls are backwards! Up and down is normal, but left and right is inverted, and it's constantly throwing me for a loop lol.

And funny thing, I refuse to play Halo with my cousin because he insists on always having inverted controls on. I can't even play like that, so it isn't even fun.

I used to play inverted because that’s how all the earlier first person games defaulted and I was used to it. I know I played a Halo 2 inverted. But I got tired of updating the menu and switched to using the default in games. I can still do inverted if I go play an old game though; it never bothers me for long.